Case-washing machine



spf; 18, 1828.

l. R. HIPPENMEYER GASE' wAsHING MACHIN sept 1s. 192s;

l. R. HIPPENMEYER CASE WASHING MACHINE Filed Jiinzs.Y E24 3 Smets-Sheet,2

sept. 1s, 19211 l. R. HIPPENMEYER CASE WASHING MACHINE 1924 3Sheets-Sheet 3 d June 2 ffl/wr i f2@ jaw-WW Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

"TUNITED STATES `1,884,828 PATENT OFFICE.

I BVING B. HIPPENMEYER,

0F WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CREAMEBY PACKAGE MFG. COMPANY, orCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or inninois.

CASE-WASHING MACHINE.

Application led June 23, 1924. Serial No. 721,714.

The invention relates to machinery for washing the cases or crates inwhich bottles 'are handled, with reference more particularly to milkbottle cases. l

The handling of bottled milk between the dairy plants and theircustomers is generally accomplished with the use of cases holding aquantity of bottles. The empty bottles are collected and replaced in thecrates for return to the dairy plants. Before the bottles are refilledwith milk they are generally removed from the cases and washed inmachines adapted to that purpose, being then retilled and again placedin cases. During the period in which the bottles are being washed', itis desirable also to Wash the eases before the refilled bottles arereplaced inthem. The case washing operation should thoroughly cleansethe cases on all sides for the removal of any soil accumulated upon thembefore they are again put in service.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a machinethrough which bottle 'cases may be conveyed in an end to end series forspray Washing, and so liandled by ithe conveying mechanism within themachine that allsurfaces of the (aises are exposed' dur-` ing theirpassage through the machine to the cleansing action of the sprayingdevices provided therein.

Otherobjeets and advantages will be apparent in the following detaileddescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention which has beenselected for illustration in the accompanying drawings. It willunderstood, however, that various changes 1n form, construction andarrangement may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention as ex ressed in the appendedclaims.

n the drawings, Fig. 1 represents a plan View of the machine with thetop covering removed. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevationof the machinetaken through the center of the tank and looking toward the side of thelatter supporting the operating mechanisms. Fig. 3 is a front end viewot the machine. Fig. 4: is a cross sectional elevation taken on theplane of the line 4 in Fig. 1 and illustrating the arrangement of thespray pipes in relation to the conveying means.`

The machine comprises a tank 1 supported upon upright standards 2secured at intervals to the opposite lateral walls of the tank. The

tank is adaptedto contain a quantity of washing solution in its lowerportion to be applied to bottle cases passed through the upper portionof the tank.V Bottle cases entering thev machine are received upon aseries of spaced rollers 3 positioned at the front end.0f the tank andextending partially into the tank, the rollers 3 being pivoted in a pairof lateral supporting bars f1 mounted on suitable brackets secured tothe side walls of the tank. The. rollersare arranged in downwardlyinclined serial relation for the movement of cases thereover by gravity.

Positioned inwardly 'of the series of rollers 3 is a driven ,chainconveyor of which v the upper operating run is inclined, first upwardlyand then downwardly. The doubly inclined conveyor comprises a pair ollaterally spac-ed chains 5 and 6 supported at the end adajacent theseries of rollers by a pair of sprockets 7 and 8 mounted upon an idlershaft 9' journalled in suitable bearings supported on the side walls ofthe tank. The upper runs of the chains 5 and 6 are also operativelysupported on a central pair of sprockets 10 and 11 positionedsubstantially above the end sprockets 7 and 8, the center sprockets 1()and 11 being supported on an idler Shaft 12 journalled in suitable endbearings mounted on the sidewalls of the tank. The opposite ends of theoperative runs of the chains 5 and 6 are supported on a pair of drivingsprockets 13 and 111, positioned substantially below the centralvsprocket-s 10 and. 11. The driving sprockets 13 and 14 are secured on adrive shaft 15 'journalled in suitable bearings mounted on wall oft-hetank for connection with driving means hereinafter described.

A second pair of conveying chains 16 and 17 are operatively positionedendwardly ad: Y

jacent the chains 5 and 6. The second pair of chains 16 and 17 aresupported for opera- 4 tion on an upward inclination and are adapted toreceiveqthe cases from the downwardly inclined portions of the chains 5and 6. The

chains 16 and 17 `are supported. at the inner ends of their runs by apair of sprockets'.

18V and 19 secured to a shaft 2O journalled'in suitable bearings mountedon the side walls of the tank. The chains 16 and 17 are supported at theuppe'r and outer ends of their runs upon ka pair of sprockets 21 and 22mounted upon an idler shaft 23, journalled in suitable bearingssupported upon the side walls of the tank. The lower inner shaft 2O isdriven by a sprocket 24 mounted thereon outwardly of the conveyor chainsprockets, and operatively connected by a chain 25 with a sprocket 26secured on the drive. shaft 1.5.

Another series of rollers 27 is provided at the rear end of the machineto receive the cases from the chains 16 and 17. The rollers 27 arepositioned in spaced relation and pivotally supported in side rails 28and 2l? carried by brackets mounted on the side walls of a rearwardlyextended canopy 3() supported on the end wall of the machine. The bottlecases are laterally guided in their passage through the machine by apair of guide rails 31 and 32 support-'ed by brackets 33 secured to theside walls of the tank. The carrying runs of the two pairs of chainsare- Supported between their operating sprockets upon the pairs ofunder-positioned guide plates 34, 35 and 36, secured to suitablebrackets mounted on the tank side walls.

Spaced inwardly from the front end of the machine is a spray supply pipe37 extending across the tank beneath the series of rollers 3, andconnecting with a riser pipe 38 which in turn is connected with anoverhead cross pipe 39, the latter being connected with a downwardlyextending laterally positioned pipe 40. The lateral and overheadsections are provided with spray openings forvthe d ischarge of thewashing solution upon the side surfaces andthe upper and inner surfacesof` thc passing cases. A branch pipe connection 41 extends from thesupply pipe 37 inwardly adjacent the end of the series of rollers 3, andis there connected with a cross pipe 42 positioned transversely andbeneath the path of the. cases.

The cross pipe 42 is provided with upwardly directed spray openings. Asthe cases, represented in the drawings by the letter A, pass downwardlyover the inclined rollers 3, and are received by the upwardly inclinedrun of the conveyor chains 5 and 6, it will be observed, as illust-ratedin Fig. 2, thatthe adjoining cases are tipped in cndward relation toeach other, so that their end surfaces are fully exposed t-o thedischarge of the solution from the cross pipe 42, thus effecting thethor- 'ough cleansing of the end surfaces, an action which is notpossible when the cases are moved through spraying baths on the sameplane and in abutting relation. y

Another supply pipe 43 is positioned inwardly of the rear end of thetank and is connected with a laterally positioned riser pipe 44 whichleads to an overhead cross pipe 45 and therefrom to a downwardlypositioned lateral pipe 46, the upright and overhead sections beinginwardly provided with spray openings to effect a second washing of thelateral surfaces and inner surfaces ofthe passing cases. A branch pipe47 leading from the I 'supply pipe 43 connects with a second cross pipe48 having upwardly directed spray openings and positioned adjacent themeeting point of the angularly related runs of the downwardly inclinedrear portion of the conveyor chains 5 and 6 and the upwardly inclinedchains 16 and 17. The passing cases are at this point again endwardlytilted. so that the washing spray from the cross pipe 48 is thoroughlyapplied to the end surfaces of the passing cases.

The latter are carried by the conveyor chains 16 and 17 upwardly totheseries of rollers 27 and directed out of the machine. As the cases reachthe rollers 27, they may be subjected to a cooling rinse bath sprayedupon them from a pipe 49 extending around the four sides ofthe path ofthe cases, and having suitable openings for the direction of lateralsprays upon the cases. It will be noted also that as the cases enter thearea ot' the rinsing spray their ends are upwardly separated so that theend surfaces of the cases are rinsed 'as well as the side surfaces. f

The chains may be operatively driven and thewashing sprays supplied fromthe solution contained in the tank by any suitable means` that hereinillustrated comprising as a prime source of power a motor 50, mounted ona suitable platform 51 secured to the tank structure, and havingendwardly eX- tended shafts 52 and 53 operatively connected with therotors of the respective pumps 54 and 55 drawing solution through thescreened inlet pipes 56 and 57 lfrom the interior of the tank. The pumps54 and 55 discharge the solution under pressure through the sc'reenedoutlet connections 58 and 59 to the respective supply pipes 37 and 43within the tank. The motor shaft 53 also carries a pulley 60 connectedby a belt 61 to a pulley 62, mounted on a shaft 63 journalled in acasing 64, suitably supported on the side of the tank; The casing 64encloses a conventional worm and spiral-gear drive 'for the transmissionof power from the shaft 63 to the sprocket drive shaft 15 extending intothe casing, whereby the conveyor chains are operatively driven. Theupper side of the tank is preferably enclosed by sections of removablecovers 65 suitably supported at the upper extremities of the side wallsof the tank.

The rinsing spray pipe 49 may be supplied with cold rinse water bysuitable connection with an independent supply of Coldwater (not shown).l

Water for the solution within the tank may besupplied by t-he valvecontrolled inlet pipes 66 and 67 commonly connected with a source ofWater supply. The solution may be maintained at suitable temperature bymeans y through the valve controlled pipes 70 and 71 with a suitablesource of steam supply.

I claim as my invention:

l. A case washing machine, comprising a tank adapted to contain washingHuid, a downwardly inclined gravity conveyor supported within`and at oneend of said tank and adapted for the movement of a series ot cases intosaid tank, an endless conveyor belt 'operatively supported in thecentral portion of said. tank having a doubly inclined carrying runadapted to receive cases from said gravityconveyor, said carrying runextending upwardly from adjacent the lower end of said gravity conveyorand downwardly toward the opposite end of said tank, a second endlessconveyor belt operatively supported in said tank having an upwardlyinclined carrying run positioned endwardly adjacent the downwardlyinclined portion of said first conveyor belt and adapted to receive,cases therefrom, and spraying devices posiand downwardly toward theopposite end, a

inclined carry-.

second endless conveyor belt operatively supported in said tank, havingan upwardly inclined carrying run positioned endwardl y adjacent thedownwardly inclined portion of said conveyor belt and adapted to receivecases therefrom, and spraying devices posiy tioned adjacent the lowerends of said conveyor carryingr runs adapted to spray wash,- ing fluidupon the exposed ends of said cases passing thereover ,in angularlytilted relation.

3. A case washing machine, comprising a tank adapted to-contain Washingfluid, a sectional conveyor operatively supported in said tank, onesection-fofl said conveyor including an endless-belt having adownwardlyinclined rumianother section of said conveyor includingl an endless belthaving an upwardly inclined run, said sections being positioned so thatthe lower ends of the zones of travel of the inclined runs of saidendless belts respectively. terminate in adjacent spaced resaid endlessbelts being adapted-toffe lation,

move a series of cases throughsaid tankin successive relation and totiltv saidl cases-in passing from one to the other/cisaidbeltsso-V thatthe end surfaces of-adjacent-1cases-aregf- L separated 1n passingovert-hespace betweenv the ends of said inclined runs; and means forspraying washing fluid upon said end. surfaces while passing over saidspace. v

In witness whereof I have hereunto attached my signature.

IRVING R. HIPPENMEYER.

